(INDIANAPOLIS)(AP) - Officials say the return of more people to the job market is behind Indiana's unemployment rate going up for the fifth straight month.

Figures released Tuesday by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development show the state's jobless rate hit 9% for October, up a tick from 8.9% in September

The agency reports about 273,000 people were looking for jobs in Indiana last month.
The agency says the state's labor force has grown by 36,000 people in the last three months for the largest three-month increase since 1993.

Indiana's unemployment rate is the same as the national rate and the same or lower than of all the neighboring states. The state's jobless figure has been climbing since bottoming at 8.2% in April and May.